It was but a short distance to the top, and the children hurried along, followed more slowly by their elders.
"Here we are at last," said the Senhor as they reached the top. "Now you can see seventy miles, for there is Organ Mount fifty miles away, and yonder is Cape Frio, which is seventy miles away."
"Among the mountain peaks there lies the sea of gold," said Uncle Hilario. "There is a tale told that in the early Portuguese days in Brazil a murderer, who had been condemned to death, escaped from prison and fled to the hills. He wandered about, fed only by the bounty of the forest and at last he discovered the Lake of Gold. From its shining sands he made a fortune, and returned in two years to Rio to buy his pardon."
"The Lake of Gold," said Affonzo. "I wonder if that is where the Gilded Man washed himself."
"Who was the Gilded Man?" asked Maria.
"It's an Indian story Vicente told me," said Affonzo.
"Do tell it to me," she said, and he told her the quaint tale with which she was delighted.
They lunched in picnic fashion on the grass and had a merry time, resting afterwards while the Senhora and Uncle Hilario told them stories of old days in Brazil. At last it came time to return and the two boys, after whispering together went to their uncle with a request.
"May we not walk down?" Martim asked. "We won't get lost and we want to do what you and mother did."